Page 103 of Summer Holiday Lifeline

“And who stayed in hospice with her at the end?”

Myles scowled at him. “She was at home…”

“Who arranged her funeral?” Steven asked, because semantics were so not the point right now. “Who did the mountain of paperwork that comes with death? Even an anticipated one.”

“What is your point?”

“You looked after her. You looked after her death. You looked after her house. You looked after her kids.”

“I’m her brother.”

“Who looked after you?”

Myles narrowed his eyes. “I did. I’m the grown-up here, remember?”

Steven snorted. “As Jake so eloquently reminded me earlier, even grown-ups need care now and then.”

“I’m not used to being that guy.”

“So I’m gathering.”

“I don’t want them to think I don’t want them around.”

“First of all, you can’t control what anyone thinks, and second, Shelly loves the shit out of you and trusts you.”

“Jet—”

“Is sixteen. Trust me, he’s very good at acting it, too. But he loves the shit out of you and trusts you. Which is why this one blip threw him so hard.” He leaned forward and took Myles’s face in his hands. “If he didn’t care about you, or if he really did think you just ghosted them because you’re a jerk, he wouldn’t be over at the Cabin right now helping you to help this kid. Maybe it’s his way of saying he sees why you did what you did. He still hurts. He’s trying.”

Myles pressed his forehead to Steven’s. “How are you so good at this?”

“Practice. Don’t forget Steph and I were where you are when our parents died. We were eighteen, and admittedly, I flaked out on her at first, but we got there in the end. It took teamwork, though. And me pulling my head out of my ass. And believe it or not, her collapsing into a helpless ball of utter misery about a year in when she finally let it sink in they were never coming back.”

“Stephanie—your Stephanie—broke down?”

“I guess you could say we were lucky we didn’t disintegrate at the same time. I was mostly getting my shit back together by then. But she held the three of us together all the while I was allowed to mourn them.” He kissed Myles’s cheek gently and sat back so he could see his face. “Mourning, Myles. That was what caught up with her in the end. She didn’t take the time to do that right away, and it about killed her when she finally did. I don’t mind telling you that was the scariest six or eight months of the whole thing, when I thought I couldn’t leave her alone. When I didn’t know quite what she might do if I did.”

“I can’t picture that. Not her.”

“And I didn’t expect it of her, which is maybe why it freaked me out so bad.”

“I’m glad it worked out for you guys.”

“It didn’t work out. We worked it out. We did that. And it was hard. But it wasn’t impossible, and we didn’t do it all alone. Lucy’s family was always there for us. It’s no accident she and Jake make such a good couple. We owe a lot of the getting-through to her mom, and to her.”

Myles nodded, pulled himself up like there was a series of pulleys and gears inside he had to concentrate on to make work, but in the end, his spine was straight again, and he could look Steven in the eye. “I didn’t come here at all looking for a⁠—”

Steven touched his lips. “I know that. And it’s okay. We are what we are. Doesn’t need a name.”

“So we shouldn’t even look at it?”

“Not right now. Not tonight, anyway.”

Myles closed his eyes, kissed Steven’s finger, and leaned back ever so slightly. “I’m so tired.”

“So you should sleep.”

“The kids.”